It has been known to provide a multi-player gaming device having a number of fixed gaming terminals linked to a bonus event display. Each player terminal includes a validator to receive physical value in the form of a voucher/ticket or cash to establish credits for the player at their respective terminal. Upon the triggering of a certain game play event the common bonus event display acts to present typically a randomly determined outcome or contest to the eligible players. In such devices the player is tied to their terminal and, since the terminal is fixed, is not free to move about. Further, in such arrangements, the terminals are specially manufactured to be gaming terminals and each is in communication with any casino enterprise backend system for receiving/transmitting data and, for example, reporting for purposes of game performance, accounting and player loyalty tracking.
In a casino environment with perhaps several thousand gaming machines, a network is provided to provide data communication between each gaming machine and a backend system. The backend system may include accounting, maintenance, status, and notification functionality to name just a few. In some cases the network may provide or support game content provided on the gaming machines such as providing a remote resource library to download and/or augment games on the gaming terminal. When a machine is removed from service and replaced with another or a new machine is added to the inventory, that machine is connected to the network through suitable cabling or in some cases a WiFi connection to provide the aforesaid communication. Standard communication protocols have been adopted by the industry to support communications between the system and the machines on the casino floor. Connecting a new gaming machine to the network typically does not require reconfiguration of the casino venue host network topology.
In a casino environment it has been known to provide one or more servers for operating a player loyalty program. This loyalty program is operated on the casino venue network supporting topology and requires network connectivity with the gaming machines and other supporting terminals on the casino floor such as player access kiosks, table game pit terminals and point of sale terminals. For example, Boushy, U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,647 titled “National Customer Recognition System and Method” and Link et al, U.S. Pat. No. 9,747,750 titled “System and Method for Providing Loyalty-Based Virtual Objects Across Various Media Including Gaming Devices”, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference, describe features of a player loyalty program system and method. Players register into the loyalty program, are assigned an account and issued, for example, a player card having a machine readable magnetic stripe. At a card reader at a gaming machine or table game, the card is read and gaming activity such as wagers and wins is reported to the servers which derive loyalty “points” allocated into the player's account. These points can be redeemed for goods and services as well as redeemed for wagering. In Kelly et al, U.S. Pat. No. 8,241,123 titled “Video Switcher and Touch Router Method for a Gaming Machine”, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference, there is disclosed a player-system interface for displaying, for example, system derived content, on a gaming terminal video display as opposed to a dedicated, separate tracking module video display.
The player interface also provides a vehicle to provide system generating bonusing to players. In Kelly et al, US 2011/0118004 titled “Player Gaming Console, Gaming Machine, Networked Gaming System and Method”, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference there is disclosed a system providing system delivered bonuses to players through the player-system interface.
In Kovacs U.S. Pat. No. 9,214,056 titled “Gaming System and Method Which Enables Multiple Players to Simultaneously Play Multiple Individual Games or Group Games on a Central Display” there is disclosed a system including a community video display to display a number of games and separate player stations which can be terminals or mobile devices. From the player stations the player can play one or more of the displayed games. As disclosed the venue for the system may include seating such as sofas and chairs. The disclosed arrangement requires a supporting network topology to support data routing and switching such as middleware servers disposed between the player stations and the game server. There is no disclosure of providing such a system that can be “dropped” into a casino venue without setting up the required topology and connecting to the host casino wired and wireless network and services. Stated differently the system can cannot be installed into a gaming venue and appear to the network as just another gaming machine.
In Lyons, U.S. Pat. No. 9,672,688 titled ‘System and Method for Cross platform Persistent Gaming Sessions Using a Mobile Device”, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference, there is disclosed a system and method for a player to migrate game play from a gaming terminal to stream to their mobile device for play remote from the terminal. When play is migrated the physical terminal is rendered inactive for play by other players.
A drawback to these prior approaches is that a system to support localized gaming using mobile or remote player terminals requires a network topology to support the system as well as network with the host venue network and to support the provision of multiple games, Ecommercial transactions and player tracking. There is a need to provide a system, apparatus and method which enables easy installation into an existing casino environment without additional configuration of the host network or extensive network connectivity. Basically a “suitcase gaming console” type of arrangement is desirable whereby the gaming console can be “dropped into” a venue and still provide the desired functionality but, from a functional standpoint, appears to the host system as just another added gaming machine. In such an arrangement there should be a convenient method or apparatus to enable a player to use their own mobile device such as a cellular telephone or tablet device and to securely and functionally bind or tether their device to a common game console having a community video display for displaying one or more gaming opportunities and outcomes. The console should further provide a convenient technique for the player to apply value for establishing credits for wagering using their mobile device, for arranging, maintaining and displaying, for each player, individual credit meters and win meters at the console provided community display as well as at the player's personal device. That is, in the prior art, a common approach has been to provide configured fixed terminals each displaying and maintaining such meters. Where multiple players use their own devices tethered to a single gaming device a problem is presented of metering and accounting for the play of the players for a common game or for different games presented at the console display. That is, since the suitcase console looks like a gaming machine to the system there is a need to account for individual play such as player tracking of wagers/wins for the purposes of accumulating or debiting player loyalty assets. Where a mobile device is configured by a downloaded application considerations of configurations for different operating systems as well as data and communication security must be taken into account. As mentioned above the suitcase console should also support player tracking to the host network.